Skip to main content

Blind Eyes

             “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23)

 

 

          Someone commented recently about things (like humbleness) not coming naturally to us, and today’s passage resonates with that truth. What Jesus teaches us doesn’t come naturally to us. Oh, some small part may do so because of the way we were raised, but we can’t do it all ourselves, and when we try, it’s like the passage above. We stumble around in the dark.

          The first point is that we aren’t mean to do it all ourselves. We aren’t meant to do it all ourselves at any point, but at this point, we’re less able. In fact, it’s interesting that just about the time we are supposedly at our peak of power financially, emotionally, socially, etc., our bodies decline so that we have to look to others for help there.

          But I want to return very specifically to the example Jesus provides, because it’s rich, and personally demonstrated. Without correction, my vision is (at best) 20/200. That means that what someone with good vision sees clearly 200 feet away has to be 20 feet away for me to see it as clearly. Presbyopia (old eyes) might be improving my near sightedness a little. I also have astigmatism, meaning that things that are clear to you are blurry to me.

          All this means that I need vision correction to function “normally”  in society. I need a different way to see. If I were blind, I would need a different way to see. I might use echolocation or hearing to see. Or touch. I might have to have the help of another person or a guide dog to make it through the day. Without them the greatness of my darkness would be great indeed.

          The same is true about spiritual vision. We are often blind. Sometimes, we may see a little, but what we see is distorted or fuzzy. And that might be a good thing because we wouldn’t like what we saw. God gives us just enough light and vision as we can handle – or to accomplish His will. We get tiny glimpses of Him, and short glimpses of ourselves – but generally only as we learn to see with eyes that are not physical – eyes of love and eyes of faith.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more